Year-End Checklist: Annual Credit Card Spending Bonuses

We’re less than 30 days away from the end of the year, which means it’s time to rev up spending on our credit cards. At least the ones that offer annual spending bonuses. With all the year-end sales and holidays coming up, many of you will be putting lots of legitimate spend on your credit cards – so why not get something extra out of it, besides the usual 1-6 points per $1 spent? Whether you’re in the market for extra airline miles, hotel points, free nights, companion passes or elite status, you can get it by channeling your spending onto the right rewards credit card.

Time is limited, so if you’re just getting started and can’t pull off $40,000 worth of manufactured spending in a single month (and you really shouldn’t do that on a single credit card), there are a variety of bonuses you can earn by meeting lower spending requirements. Below are your options, categorized by the amount of spend required:

Earn bonus miles, elite status, and companion passes on your credit card spending through the end of the year!

Is having elite status with Virgin Atlantic and Marriott is more important to you than earning free nights or other perks? Then this might be a good place to focus your spending. However, keep in mind that there’s a cheaper way to earn top-tier Marriott Platinum status, which involves putting $75,000 worth of spend on the Ritz Carlton credit card.

The only spending requirements that have to be met by calendar year are the bonuses from the Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard and Tier-Qualifying Points from the Southwest Premier Business Card. I can’t remember when the 90,000 Virgin Atlantic MasterCard offer ended. If it was still valid in June and you got in on it, there may still be time to earn 50,000 bonus points by completing $12,000 in spending. Missed the cut-off date? Then you can still learn 7,500 bonus miles by completing $15,000 worth of spending by the end of this calendar year.

Aside from the Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard, all of the above listed bonuses can be earned every calendar year. It’s not advisable to spend $20,000 – $25,000 on a card in a single month. If you’ve already put some of that spend on these cards since January, you may have very little left to do.

The British Airways Visa and Amex Delta Reserve Credit Card both offer bonuses that can be earned each calendar year. Whether you’re after the British Airways Travel Together Ticket or MQM’s for Delta elite status, you can do it before the end of the year.

Aiming for top-tier hotel elite status or AAdvantage EQM’s? Both can be achieved by channeling $40,000 worth of spending on the appropriate credit card. I would focus on earning Hilton Diamond status, since I had such a great experience as a Diamond member at the Conrad Bali this summer. That’s not to say I haven’t received great treatment as a mid-tier Gold. But Diamond status is a step up and worth earning – to me at least. When my Diamond status expires, this will be my preferred method of earning it back. You can certainly go the Hyatt route and earn extra stay/night credits towards Hyatt Diamond. I just don’t think that’s the best value for your money spent. I would recommend holding out for a Diamond status match or challenge instead or mattress running, if you’re not too short on stay requirements.

Only the $60,000 spending requirement from the Amex Delta Reserve Credit Card has to be met in a calendar year in order to earn 15,000 MQM’s. If you’ve already met the majority of the required spend and are close to earning elite status with Delta, then it’s worth putting some extra spend on the card. Otherwise, I’d focus $50,000+ worth os spend towards earning the Southwest Companion pass or Ritz Carlton/Marriott Platinum status.

Ariana, re: Chase Hyatt Visa. It’s not stays and nights that you will earn after spending, it’s virtual credit that will go toward your Diamond status. So, just for the status… Thought it’s important not to omit word “credit”! 🙂

I need to top off my Hyatt points so I’ll be spending some on the Hyatt Visa. Need more Hilton points to so MS via grocery stores. Still need to meet the remaining of the annual $6k on groceries on my blue cash, so that’s the third, and will be buying merchant gift cards at grocery stores too including actual groceries.